martes, 20 de enero de 2015

The Basel Convention Regional Center for Central America and Mexico (BCRC-CAM) has assumed through its Director, Miguel Araujo, the commitment of boosting at least 10 awareness raising activities regarding climate change in El Salvador and the región in 2015. Mr. Araujo was admitted last July as part of Climate Reality Leadership Corps, that is part of the Project Climate Reality, created and presided by former Vice President of the United States and Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Al Gore for his contribution to the reflection and world action against climate change.

Moreover, Mr. Arajo has has taken steps to establish the office for Central Climate Reality Project within BCRC -CAM , at the offices of the Secretariat of the Central American Commission on Environment and Development (CCAD), located in General Secretariat of the Central American Integration System ( SICA ) in Antiguo Cuscatlan , El Salvador.

The Lic. Miguel Araujo participated in a comprehensive 3-day training, held from 4 to 6 November last in Rio de Janeiro, taking over a full day instruction with Al Gore himself, with the financial support of SIMS Recycling Solutions and of MIDES. Mr. Araujo and the others trained, were thus enabled to make presentations of the material prepared and personally updated by Mr. Al Gore, which is accessible to them online, being allowed to supplement it with material interest in accordance to the audience.

The 3-day training by Al Gore and other experts was offered free of charge to 700 people of different ages and sectors, which were also admitted as a Leaders Climate Reality, in exchange for their commitment to promoting 10 awareness raisinh activities highlighting the importance of climate change over the next twelve months.

The Salvadoran Karla Boza Carbonell, 21, who is studying sociology at the Manhattan Institute in New York, was also admitted as a Leader in Climate Reality, becoming with Mr. Araujo the first two Salvadorans of a group of 6,913 who have been already been trained in the Climate Reality Project and Al Gore since 2006 in 26 similar events. Because of its importance, climate change requires the support of all generations, thus, Miguel Araujo and Karla Boza Carbonell have decided to coordinate their actions to raise awareness to increase the impact of their message.

They had a joint interview published both in print and on video in El Diario de Hoy last January 13. Among its ten awareness raising activities on climate change, Karla and Miguel will also organize a bilingual blog, presentations to different audiences with multiplier potential, withreligious leaders, journalists, government officials, businessmen, students and political leaders as well as a new edition of "Music for the Earth / Safe Planet" event recreation and education that requires payment with electronic waste or other reciclables. The two Leaders in Climate Reality are managing a Democratic Societies Summit scheduled for June in San Salvador, to organize a presidential dialogue on climate change with the participation of Al Gore.

The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal was adopted by the Plenipotentiary Conference of March 22, 1989. The need for this agreement arises due to growing concerns in the international community for the risk that toxic wastes represent to human health and the environment.

The Basel Convention is the most comprehensive global agreement on the environment on hazardous wastes and other wastes with more than 170 member states, and its area of action enforces the reduction at source, collection, transport and disposal of waste hazardous and other wastes, including monitoring of disposal sites. The implementation of the Convention is based on a set for 2002-2010 Strategic Plan, which is a tool of the Convention for the Control and Reduction of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and enlarged the reduction and eventual elimination of production of these wastes. Additionally, the active promotion of the use and transfer of cleaner technologies, along with public-private partnerships at all levels, enabling the active participation of all sectors of the international community in achieving the objectives of the Convention.

Because a single Secretariat has been integrated related to chemicals and hazardous wastes (Basel, Stockholm, Rotterdam and Minamata), the BCRC-CAM supports the implementation of these agreements in Central America and Mexico substances in addition to the Montreal Protocol. The Center is installed in the offices of the Executive Secretariat of the Central American Commission on Environment and Development, located within the offices of the General Secretariat of the Central American Integration System (SICA), in order to facilitate coordination with regional efforts and contribute to the environmentally sound management of hazardous materials in Central America.

Please visit the following links to read about the
interview and watch the video